Urban Mountaineering

If you're into climbing (like me) and familiar with Portland (also like me), you may find this post pretty awesome. If you're neither of those things, I'm guessing that you won't find it interesting/funny at all.

A few of the reasons why I liked this:

- they actually used wands to mark the route back to their "bivy"
- I love the photo of the guy jumping the "bergschrund"
- the sequence where they "lighten their load" for a sprint to the top is classic

These guys were just totally committed to their "adventure," which I totally admire.

Just back-filled in a few posts

I just posted a few entries that I started a few days ago but didn't finish. If you are accustomed to just reading the top entry, you may want to scroll down a bit to see the entries (mainly photos) that I just added.

Makes perfect sense, right?

It's always comforting to know that you can receive tax, mortgage, and skin care advice from the same person.




P.S. Also, I think this firm is supposed to be called "Multi-Financial Services," but the sign says "Muti-Financial." Another case of my pet peeve popping up.

The Santa Train

While I am generally not really into promoting the whole Santa/presents/Rudolph/materialistic side of Christmas, we got some tickets for the Santa Train from a friend and took the kids. It was a pretty fun experience, but our enjoyment was severely tempered by the frigid temperatures. You board the train in a small town outside of Seattle, then ride the train a few miles down the track to another depot, get off and get cookies and cocoa, and visit Santa. It's a great idea, but the one problem is that the old restored train cars don't have any heat! And we just happened to go on a day where the temperature was probably 25-30 degrees! We tried to bundle up as best we could, but you'll notice that we all look pretty chilly in these pictures. The kids got to see Santa (Drew asked for binoculars, Sam asked for a Barbie), and we warmed up in the "kitchen car" with some cocoa and cookies. It was a fun, albeit VERY cold, experience.


Missi and I on the train trying to stay warm


Here is one of the old restored train cars. I love the old-style text across the top that says "Spokane, Portland, & Seattle"


With snow on the ground and scenes like this little pavillion just across from the train depot, the whole experience seemed very Norman Rockwellish.




Doesn't this picture of the train depot just look like something from a Rockwell or Thomas Kincade painting? Very "Americana."

Pics from Christmas

Here are but a few of the hundreds of pictures we took from our numerous Christmas celebrations with friends and family. It would take me too long to caption all of these, so apologies if you're not sure who appears in certain pictures. Just leave a comment if you have any questions.

Seen on the street today...

Can you spot my pet peeve?

Think about it

An increase in your income should not result in an increase in your standard of living, but rather your standard of giving.

Combination Train Whistle/Moth Preventer

Makes perfect sense, right?

Random Musings

While relevant anytime, it is especially important during this Christmas season to visit The New American Dream and Advent Conspiracy.

I recently re-connected through Facebook with an old friend from high school, Serenity (Thornburg) Coulombe. She and her family are traveling across the country in an RV named Big Buster and "loving on homeless people." You can follow their journeys either through her blog or her husband Andy's blog.

Speaking of blogs, several friends from Eugene recently started their own. If you're so inclined, check out the Wallace blog and the Lavassaur blog.

In a display of sheer geniusness, our friends Ryan and Susan have finished their annual Christmas music video.

I wish I could be in San Diego on December 30.

I sure feel old when I get sore after sledding and having a snowball fight with the kids. And it wasn't like we were doing this type of sledding.

I really apologize if anyone reading this blog does this, but I really don't understand why anyone would put a wreath on the front grill of their car.

My dog loves the snow.

Seattle absolutely shuts down when they receive any snowfall. Like as in, shutting down over 100 bus routes when it snows! But if stuff like this happens, I guess its no suprise that the city shuts down.

I love that my son calls a "toboggan" a "tog-boggler."

With the snow falling outside, and more expected tonight, I'm excited to make a big pot of warm chicken noodle soup for the family.

We've been listening to a lot of Pandora lately. Check it out if you haven't done so already.

I'm currently trying to work my way through three books:

1. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
2. Under the Overpass by Mike Yankoski
3. Chasing Daylight by Erwin Raphael McManus

Looking for a gift for the person who has everything? Might I suggest a Snuggie?

Words cannot describe...

...the hilarity/hideousness of this photo:



There's just so much to love: Drew's expression, Missi's shiny tights, Sam's skirt that once belonged to Missi (same with Drew's shirt), my Christmas tie and terrible burgundy colored pants, Missi's pin and hair accessory, etc, etc, etc...

Pics from the past few weeks

Missi and I at the firm's Christmas party


The fam picking out The Wilson Family Christmas Tree


Sam and I going on the "hay ride" offered at the Christmas tree farm. Since when do tree farms offer hay rides? I thought pumpkin patches had a monopoly on that market.


Drew looks a bit pained in this photo. Hardly the pose of a mighty lumberjack, eh?


Sam conked out on the drive home from the tree farm.


Drew on the drive home, looking mighty full of the Christmas spirit.

I'm still here...

It's been awhile since I've updated this blog. The lack of an update is due primarily to my busy work schedule, which unfortunately may be a sign of things to come. But I have a ton of stuff that I'd like to post, and I'll try to get around to posting it this weekend.

Signing off for now from snowy and cold Seattle,

John

Family Date Night

Last night was family date night at our house. This meant that Drew got to "take out" Missi and I had the privilege of going on a "Daddy Date" with Sam. Drew and Missi went bowling and got ice cream (sorry no pics as I had the camera), and Sam and I got hot chocolate and went to Garden d'Lights at the Bellevue Botanical Garden. It was tons of fun. Sam got all dressed up and I bought flowers for the ladies and all of us had a great time. I'm hoping to make this a somewhat-regular tradition, i.e., once every couple of weeks.

Seen on a bumper sticker last night...

Change is Inevitable.
Growth is Optional.

Talk amongst yourself.

Quote for the day...

I read this yesterday and thought it was good:

If real estate is all about location, location, location, fatherhood is all about time, time, time.

Wow! What a game!

Here I am two days removed from the Ducks' glorious win in the Civil War and I am still basking in the victory.



If you would've given me a truth serum before the game, I would have told you that I was very, very nervous for the Ducks. I began feeling a bit better when it was announced that Jacquizz Rodgers would not play, but I definitely did not give enough credit to Mike Bellotti and Chip Kelly for their ability to prepare for the game with an extra week (Oregon had a bye the week before the Civil War). While the Ducks' defense left something to be desired, our offense was unstoppable! We almost had 700 yards of offense! 700!!! For those of you who may not closely follow football, that is an almost unheard-of statistic.



If you didn't get a chance to see the game (high likelihood as it was on Versus), I suggest you cruise on over to Duck Sports News and read some of the coverage they are linking to.



Between the Civil War and the back-to-back national championships by the men's cross country team, its been a couple of very good weeks for Oregon athletics! Go Ducks!

Visit from Kirk

My buddy Kirk flew into Seattle last night from Denver, where he is living and working for a firm. He and I shared an office together for a year and got to be really good friends. He is a great guy and we all really loved the opportunity to see him.

Happy Birthday Zeke!

It's kinda crazy to think that our dog Zeke turned 2 today! We celebrated by taking him to the AMAZING dog park at Marymoor Park, and then we went to get him some special bones as a birthday gift (which he is chewing on right now as I type this).

Here are some pics, both old and recent, of the fifth member of our family...

Tyrone Wells Concert

This past Thursday night we went to see Tyrone Wells live at the Q Cafe (Big ups to Sendhil for watching our kids). If you haven't heard of Tyrone Wells, he is a singer from Seattle who classifies himself as "folk-pop." I think he lives in LA now and he's fairly popular on college radio and he gets some airplay on adult alt-contemporary radio like KINK in Portland or The Mountain in Seattle.

One of the reasons we are glad to be living in Seattle is to take advantage of the live music scene up here, and this show was no exception. It was just an acoustic gig, which really allowed Tyrone to showcase his amazing voice. Sometimes I feel like singers like this guy (and most other singer-songwriters) tend to sound a bit "overproduced" on their studio albums - the exception being Jack Johnson - so it's always nice to hear them in a stripped-down setting in a small venue like this. He has a great stage presence and kept up a lively banter with the crowd. You'll notice that he also shows off his yodeling skillz, which I managed to catch on the first portion of the video.

I highly recommend this guy. Go out and buy his CD, or better yet, catch his live show when he comes through your town!

Building and Painting Zeke's Dog House

We built and painted a dog house for Zeke last weekend. It was nothing fancy, but I felt really bad leaving him out in the Seattle rain for several hour stretches.
Here are some photos and a video.

That's catchy...

I saw this on an advertisement trying to encourage giving to the Salvation Army: "When you put money in our kettle, expect change."

P.S. Can we agree that "change" has been the buzzword of the year?
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Yes, we're still here...

Apologies for the infrequent posting on this blog lately. Things have been fairly busy and I think we are still adjusting to this new life where I leave early in the morning and don't get home until right at dinner time. But I'm hopeful that when things settle down a bit I can find some sort of a regular routine for posting to the blog. And be warned - when I actually do get around to posting I've got lots of great material: Halloween, painting Zeke's house, etc...

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Freudian slip?

Funny but true story I had to relate...

I'm sitting at work this morning typing out a few emails. By way of background, we use MS Outlook, and to email someone I just type in the first few letters of their last name and it auto-completes the remainder of the name for me (I'm sure you've seen systems like this). Well, my secretary's last name is Goldfarb, and I was attempting to send her an email. I typed in the first few letters of her last name, but in my haste, I mistakenly left out the 'L' in her last name and when I looked up to my screen, I realized that Outlook thought I was trying to send an email to "God".

If anyone knows God's actual email address and could send it to me, I would appreciate that.

Book Recommendation

If you're looking for a very thought-provoking book, especially relevant for these turbulent times, may I humbly recommend The Irresistable Revolution by Shane Claiborne. Like many great suggestions I've received, I heard about this book from the Zimels when Adam came to Oregon for our guys weekend on Mt. Adams. It would take a long time for me to completely summarize all of my reactions to this book (some good, some bad), but it has definitely made me think about my priorities and has been especially good for me to read as I jump into a new profession. Here are a few blurbs from the book to whet your appetite. I heartily recommend this book!

(From the back of the book)
In The Irresistable Revolution, Shane Claiborne invites you into a movement of the Spirit that begins in the heart and extends through our hands into a broken world. Using examples from his own unconventional life, Shane Claiborne stirs up questions about the church and the world, challenging you to live out an authentic Christian faith. This book will comfort the disturbed, disturb the comfortable, and invite believers to change the world with Christ's radical love.

...[M}any of us find ourselves estranged from the narrow issues that define conservatives and from the shallow spirituality that marks liberals. We are thirsty for social justice and peace but have a hard time finding a faith community that is consistently pro-life or that recognizes that there are "moral issues" other than homosexuality and abortion, moral issues like war and poverty. So some folks just end up trying to save individual souls from their sins, and others end up trying to save the world from "the system." But rarely do we see that the sickness of the world has infected each of us, and that the healing of our world not only begins within us but does not end with us.

There are many, many more portions of this book that I'd like to post here on the blog, but I simply will encourage others to check out the book from your local library (like I did) or purchase a copy (all profits are going to charity). You can read more about Shane at The Simple Way.